Trapped
by Mystic Dragon
Summary: An innocent field trip to visit a mine turns into a deadly race against time as Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich are trapped in a caved in section. With injuries and waning heat, will they survive long enough to be saved? UxY, JxA. COMPLETE


I don't own Code Lyoko. Waah! Wish I did, but…nope. Not mine.

This story was edited/fixed on September 2010.

This takes place…somewhere in season 2. But…no XANA in it! GASP! I wrote a Lyoko fic with no XANA attack!

It's long, I know…but I really couldn't find a good place to put in a new chapter. When I tried, it just took away from the mood/flow of the story. So…it's a really long one-shot.

Pairings: UxY, JxA

* * *

Trapped

It had all started off pleasantly enough. The eighth and ninth grade classes went on a field trip to an old mine cave that did tours to check out the geological formations for science class.

Of course, Ulrich was a little annoyed that Yumi was paired up with William…but that was bound to happen. He was paired with Odd, and Jeremie was paired with Aelita. Due to an odd number in the class, Sissi was paired with Nicolas and Herve.

They were told to bring a flashlight with them to inspect the rocks better, as well as a magnifying glass and a notebook. One person in each group was given a camera that would be able to take pictures of the rocks.

It was a nice sized cavern…there were thin pipes along the walls that led in, as well as lights that were hung from above so people could see during the tours. There were still some metal spikes in the rocks left from when it used to be a mine to mark the area that would be cleared out.

"You have two hours to explore the caverns," their teacher, Suzanne Hertz, told them at the entrance, "And if you want to venture into the west wing, we were told to be careful, since the supports there are the oldest. Don't touch the supports."

The kids nodded, and went into the cavern.

Sissi was already commenting on how gross it was.

The group stayed together for the most part (Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich)…plus Yumi and William. Ulrich didn't particularly care for the fact that William was with them, but Odd didn't mind, and would start talking to William about music or skateboarding.

Ulrich sighed. "Hey, Odd…are you going to do _any_ work, here? We need a passing grade. I'm sure Jeremie and Aelita are already done with the project."

The two that were in the front blushed.

"Well, of course." Odd grinned. "And this way, they can help us with ours!"

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "Odd, I think it'd be obvious if we helped you out. Besides…you're supposed to do the project independently within your own groups."

"You sound like Mrs. Hertz." Odd made a face. "And besides…what's there to study? It's the same thing all around us."

"Not true." Jeremie shook his head. "As the water would come in, the different minerals would be left over the rocks, causing…"

"Woa!" Odd yawned, holding up his hand. "I think we heard something like that in class."

"We did," Ulrich mumbled.

"You were paying attention?" Yumi raised an eyebrow.

"I need to pull up my science grade…it's almost as bad as my math one." Ulrich blushed, glad that the darkness hid it.

"Well, I'm in no danger of failing." Yumi laughed. "How about you, William?"

"An occasional 'C', but otherwise, my report cards are pretty good," William replied.

Ulrich mumbled something under his breath that had Odd gaping at him.

"Ulrich!"

"What?"

Odd shook his head, "Nevermind." He looked around, then moved his flashlight over an older looking beam. "Hey…let's go into the west wing!"

"Mrs. Hertz warned us about that wing, remember?" Jeremie reminded him.

"It's darker in there…and colder," Aelita added.

"Yea, but I bet there's all sorts of cool things in there!" Odd grinned. "You come'n, Ulrich?"

"Sure." Ulrich shrugged. "How about you guys?"

"It might be fun," Jeremie thought aloud, "As long as we're careful…"

"No sweat, Einstein! You know me! Careful as can be!" Odd laughed.

"That's precisely why I'm worried." Jeremie shook his head.

Ulrich snickered, Aelita covered her mouth to hide her giggles, Yumi laughed, and William smirked.

"I guess we're in." Yumi nodded, then looked at William.

William shrugged. "As long as nobody touches anything…"

"Hey, don't worry." Odd shook his head, then headed into the darker section of the old west wing.

"How come I worry when he says that?" Ulrich wondered as he followed.

Jeremie, who heard Ulrich, grinned and replied in a low voice, "Maybe because he usually says things like that before he gets devirtualized?"

Ulrich grunted a laugh.

Aelita, who could hear them since she was next to them, giggled.

"What are you guys mumbling about?" Yumi raised an eyebrow.

"Odd's recklessness." Ulrich shrugged, glancing at her. He looked away when he saw William. _Why did he have to follow us…?_

* * *

The formations in the west wing were much better than the rest of the cave. Since it was older, the stalactites and stalagmites were more developed, and sometimes, they could hear them dripping.

"They're amazing," Aelita whispered in awe as she looked at them.

Jeremie nodded. "They form from the water that runs off the rocks, and the hardening and crystallization of the minerals…"

Ulrich tuned him out and looked at one of them. "They are pretty cool…"

"Hey, guys! There's an old elevator in the back, here!" Odd's voice floated over to them.

"Odd!" Jeremie exclaimed as he hurried over. "You shouldn't be that far back! Mrs. Hertz said not to go in the west wing too deep…!"

"Aw, relax, Einstein…what's the worst that can happen?" Odd asked as he poked around the elevator. "I wonder if this thing still works…"

"Odd, stop goofing around." Jeremie frowned. "We shouldn't be this far back. Come on…Aelita and the others are waiting for us…"

"Yea, yea…" Odd nodded, then grinned. "Hey, think we'll find another supercomputer?"

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "Come on, Odd." He grabbed the boy by the arm.

Odd yelped and stumbled, then bumped into the elevator. He scowled and rubbed his arm. "Hey…that hurt, you know…"

Just then, there was a low rumble, and a couple small rocks fell from the ceiling.

"What's going on?" Yumi asked, looking around.

"It looks like the area is less stable than we thought." William shook his head. "We should get out of here." He started to head off.

Jeremie and Odd caught up, and they started to make their way out despite the shaking ground.

Aelita yelped when a rock fell in front of her, causing her to stumble.

"Aelita!" Jeremie turned back and went over to her. "Are you alright?"

Aelita nodded. She had scraped her knee, but it wasn't that bad. The ground rumbled again, and a couple more rocks fell down.

"Jeremie?" Yumi noticed.

"Yumi, look out!" Ulrich shouted, and tackled her to the ground, barely avoiding the huge rock that fell from the ceiling.

Odd and William spun around, then had to jump back to avoid being crushed. They covered their faces and bodies as best as they could as the sound of rocks falling was the only thing they could hear, as well as a couple screams from the other side of the rocks where Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi were.

When the rumbling stopped and the smoke cleared, Odd and William looked up, coughing a bit.

There was now a blockade of rocks separating them from their friends.

"Jeremie!" Odd ran over, trying to pull at the large rocks. "Aelita? Ulrich! Yumi! Come on, answer me, guys!"

"Are you guys okay!" William called, trying to help Odd move the rocks.

It was no good. The two boys fell back, breathing hard.

"We have to go for help," William told the shorter boy.

Odd nodded. "Right." He looked back at the wall of rubble. "William and I are going to get help! We'll get you guys out!"

"Come on!" William all but pulled the boy along. "We have to go _now_!"

Odd nodded. _Aw, man…this is my fault for playing with that elevator…I hope they're okay…_he ran alongside William as they headed for the exit as fast as they could.

* * *

Yumi was the first one to wake up…as far as she could tell. It was completely dark in their section of the cave, and a bit cold. Except for the warm weight on top of her. For a moment, she thought it may be a rock. But rocks aren't warm…especially down in the cool west wing.

Yumi moaned and shook her head. There were aches here and there, and her hands were scratched up. But besides that and a few other scrapes and splotches of dirt on her, she seemed to be fine. She heard a steady dripping, and fumbled to find her flashlight. Turning it on, she gasped.

"Ulrich!"

Ulrich had covered her when the rocks had begun to fall. He was laying on top of her, unconscious.

Yumi gently got him off, and looked at him. He was more scratched up than she was, and cut in various places. Though, none of the cuts were as bad as the one on his left arm that was bleeding steadily. It had already soaked into the surrounding sleeve of his shirt, and the rest of it that wasn't absorbed ran down his arm. He had a gash on his left temple as well. It wasn't bleeding as badly as the wound on his shoulder, but it was still a concern.

"Ulrich?" Yumi whispered, then shook him a bit. "Come on…wake up." She looked in her pack and found a handkerchief.

A shaken, female voice spoke up from somewhere in the room. "Y-Yumi?"

"Aelita?" Yumi smiled in relief as she pressed the handkerchief against the wound on Ulrich's arm. "You're okay!"

"I'm fine…but I can't see much. I see the light from your flashlight…I don't know where Jeremie is…"

"Don't worry…Ulrich and I will be over in a moment. Can you find your flashlight so we know where you are?" Yumi called, watching as Ulrich flinched from the pressure on his injury.

"I…I don't know…"

"Hang on," Yumi called.

Ulrich gave a cry of pain and opened his eyes blearily with a wince.

"Sorry," Yumi apologized. "I had to tie the handkerchief. It's the best I can do for a bandage."

Ulrich's ears were ringing, so he only caught a few of the words. He felt weak, and his head throbbed as much as his arm stung.

"Come on…Aelita is somewhere over there. We have to get over to her…Ulrich?" Yumi started to pull him to his feet.

Ulrich paled, and his head (and the dim world around him) spun as darkness crept into his vision. He stumbled, then fell to his knees and threw up.

Yumi bit her lip in concern, wincing at the noise. She steadied him, then picked up her flashlight and gently got him to a sitting position. "Ulrich, look at me, please."

Ulrich blearily did as he was told, breathing hard. His shoulder hurt, his head hurt, and he wasn't feeling well. He winced when a light shone in his eyes, but didn't flinch away that much.

"Ulrich, keep your eyes open," Yumi coaxed, then shook her head. _His pupils are dilated…_ "Ulrich, can you follow my finger?" She held up her index finger, and drew it from side to side in front of his face.

Ulrich tried to follow it, but everything felt like a blur. He closed his eyes.

"NO! Ulrich, don't go to sleep!"

"…I'm tired, Yumi…"

"You can't fall asleep." Yumi shook her head. _He has a concussion._ "Listen to me. You injured your head…if you fall asleep, you won't wake up. STAY AWAKE!"

Aelita spoke up just then, "Y-Yumi? Is something wrong?"

"Ulrich's injured…hang on. We'll be right over," Yumi replied. She got on Ulrich's right side and put his right arm over her shoulders, then slowly started to stand up.

"Was that Aelita?" Ulrich asked.

"Yes." Yumi nodded. "Ulrich, I need you to hold the flashlight. Try to keep it steady, alright? We need to go over to her." She gave him the flashlight, and wrapped her left arm around his back to support him.

Ulrich tried to hold it steady, but his hand was shaking. His shoulder hurt with every move his arm made, and his head throbbed.

"Come on…" Yumi whispered.

The bouncing light found its way to Aelita.

She was sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around herself, shivering. She had a few cuts and scrapes, and was dirtied up as well, but other than that, she seemed alright.

"Aelita?" Yumi asked, sitting Ulrich down against the rock wall the girl was sitting against.

Aelita wiped her eyes and shivered. "Yumi! I…"

Yumi embraced her. "It's okay." She pulled apart. "I'm going to find Jeremie. I need you to keep Ulrich awake. Do whatever you need to, but keep him awake."

Aelita glanced at the bleary boy next to her, and nodded. "Ulrich…what just happened?"

"Cave in," Ulrich responded, blinking a bit as he tried to focus on the questions.

Yumi smiled, and picked the flashlight back up, setting up the one from Aelita's bag so it pointed at the ceiling, giving them a bit more light. Then, she started looking around, calling out Jeremie's name.

A groan alerted her to his presence, and she stumbled over some rocks and rubble until she found him. He was half buried under some rocks, his glasses knocked onto the ground. He had a couple cuts on his face and arms…anything beyond that, she couldn't see since the rocks blocked it.

Yumi knelt down and started to move the rocks enough to get him out. "Hang on, Jeremie…can you hear me?"

"Yea."

"Can you wiggle out?" Yumi asked.

Jeremie tried, then cried out in pain.

"What?" Yumi asked.

"I can't move my right leg." Jeremie gritted his teeth in pain.

Yumi pulled him out, and then just about dragged him back to where Aelita was still asking Ulrich questions…some of them, meaningless. Though, he was a little more animated when she asked him how to play soccer.

Yumi shook her head, and whispered, "Keep talking to Ulrich…I'm going to take a look at Jeremie. He's okay…but I think his leg might be broken."

Aelita nodded, and went back to listening (though, it was half-heartedly) to Ulrich's explanation of soccer.

Jeremie was scraped up, a hole in the knee of his pants that showed a scrape. He was scratched and dirty, but besides the cuts on his face and hands, and the odd position of his right leg from the knee down, he seemed to be alright…albeit in pain.

Yumi went back and got his glasses, then put them on his face. "Jeremie?"

Jeremie winced due to the throbbing of his leg.

Yumi inspected it, eliciting a yelp of pain from the boy when she touched the sensitive area on his shin.

Aelita looked over. "Jeremie?"

Ulrich blinked and tried to focus. "What happened?"

"His leg's broken," Yumi responded, "From the knee down…somewhere around his shin, I think. Right leg."

"What do we do?" Aelita asked shakily.

Yumi was just as afraid, but she knew that they had hope. "As I was waking up, I heard Odd shouting through the wall that they were going to get help. We'll be alright." She looked back at Jeremie's leg. "But we should at least splint his leg just to make sure it doesn't get worse."

"How do we do that?" Aelita asked.

Yumi thought a moment. "Aelita, do you have a handkerchief?"

Aelita nodded and pulled one out, handing it to her.

"Now…we need to find something to use as a splint…" Yumi frowned, looking around in the dim light. "None of our supplies can work…and there are only rocks…"

Ulrich lifted his right arm up and pointed. "Against the wall…some of the supports were broken. Maybe one of them…is the right size…" His eyes started to close, but he opened them again with effort.

Yumi nodded and put a hand on his non-injured shoulder, then went to look.

"Jeremie, are you alright?" Aelita asked the boy as she put a hand on his arm.

Jeremie nodded, then winced again with a shiver. "How about you, Aelita?"

"I'm fine." Aelita shook her head. "My knee hurts from where I fell earlier, but…I'm okay."

Jeremie opened his eyes and squinted. Though his glasses were back on, the glass had been cracked, so it was still hard to see. She looked alright…scraped and dirty and scared, but no apparent injuries aside from that. Ulrich, on the other hand, had a handkerchief tied around his left arm that was stained darkly, and his eyes kept closing, only for them to open again.

Yumi came back with a piece of piping about half a foot long, and another one that was a bit shorter. "They were the closest in size to each other that I could find."

Jeremie nodded. "What happened to Ulrich?"

Yumi blushed a bit as she cut the handkerchief in a slight pattern for a bandage without cutting it in half or in pieces with a pair of scissors from her backpack. _He covered me from the cave-in…_ "He has a concussion, and a sharp rock must have cut into his arm, because it was bleeding pretty badly when I woke up."

Jeremie nodded, then winced.

"Aelita, Ulrich…give me a hand, here." Yumi turned to them.

Aelita went over, and Ulrich somehow pulled himself over with obvious effort.

"Ulrich, hold this pipe here." Yumi put it against Jeremie's leg.

Jeremie hissed in pain, though the coldness felt a little good against his swollen leg.

"Aelita, I need you to hold the other one. Right here." Yumi indicated, putting the other piece on the other side.

Jeremie flinched again, grinding his teeth together.

Aelita did as she was told, and she and Ulrich held the pipes steady while Yumi tied the handkerchief around his leg, getting the pipes with it as a splint.

Jeremie cried out at one point, tears of pain rolling down his cheeks.

Aelita put a hand on his shoulder since she no longer had to hold her side of the pipe.

Yumi apologized, and continued wrapping it. "Okay…I'm going to tie it off. This will hurt a bit…" She pulled to make sure it wasn't loose, and tied it as quickly as she could as Jeremie screamed in pain.

Aelita took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Jeremie squeezed back, his breath ragged from pain.

"There." Yumi moved back. "Aelita, are you injured at all?"

"Just a couple scrapes…" Aelita shivered.

Yumi nodded. "We'll sit on the outside, then. I'm not hurt, either." _Because Ulrich covered me…_ "You get on the other side of Jeremie…he and Ulrich will sit next to each other. I'll be on the other side of Ulrich. They're injured, so they'll lose body heat faster than we will. Last thing we need is one of us getting hypothermia."

Aelita nodded, curling up against Jeremie's right side as Ulrich sat on his left, with Yumi on Ulrich's left, mindful of his shoulder.

"What's 'hypothermia'?" Aelita asked after a moment of silence (only broken by Yumi's attempts to keep Ulrich awake).

Yumi looked over Ulrich at Jeremie. "I'll let you field this one, Jeremie."

Jeremie smiled grimly. "It's a condition that occurs when the body's temperature drops to an abnormally low degree. It's dangerous, since the body needs to stay at a particular temperature. And, it can be deadly in cases of extended duration."

Aelita gulped and wrapped her arms around herself, then pressed her body into Jeremie's more.

"But, don't worry…I'm sure Odd will have us out before things get critical." Jeremie smiled as best as he could.

"Odd may be a bit careless," Ulrich admitted, his eyelids still drooping, "But he's dependable. He'll get us out." He closed his eyes, then opened them when Yumi shook him slightly.

Yumi was a bit concerned at the pallor of Ulrich's face, and wondered if he had already lost a lot of blood. She put an arm around him, and leaned against him, drawing her knees to her chest. _I'm sorry if this hurts, Ulrich…but there's nothing else I can do but this to keep you from losing more blood if the bleeding hasn't stopped yet._

Ulrich hissed since pressure was put on his injured shoulder. The nausea he had felt earlier was starting to go away a little, but he still didn't feel well.

Yumi knew that she had to keep him awake. "Let's play a game."

"What game can we play?" Jeremie asked, pulling his good leg up to his chest as he shivered.

Aelita wrapped an arm around him and curled up against him, repositioning herself so that she was more comfortable.

"I don't know…a word game?" Yumi shrugged. "How about Twenty Questions?"

"How do you play that?" Aelita blinked.

Yumi smiled. "One of us will think of an object. Any object. Alive or not. Then, the others ask yes or no questions to determine what that object is. When the twentieth question is asked, you try to guess what the object I'm thinking of is. Whoever gets it right goes next. If you think you know the answer, you can use your turn to take a guess, instead, before the twenty questions is up."

"Sounds fun," Aelita said.

Yumi looked at Ulrich. "You'll go first."

"Me?" Ulrich frowned. Had his brain not been so fogged up, he would have known that he was chosen to go first to keep him from falling asleep. "Okay." He thought a moment, trying to come up with an object. _Soccer ball? Too easy. Sword? Nah. Flag? I'll go with that. It's hard to think._ "Got it."

"Okay…I'll start. Then, Jeremie, then Aelita, then back to me," Yumi instructed.

The others nodded.

"Is the object alive?" Yumi asked.

"No," Ulrich stated.

"Is it white?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes."

Aelita thought a moment. "Um…is it more than one color?"

Ulrich rubbed his eyes. "Yes."

"Is it a soccer ball?" Yumi asked.

"Nope." Ulrich grinned at her shocked look.

"Hmm," Jeremie mused. "Is one of its colors black?"

"No."

Aelita tapped a finger to her chin. "Can you swing it?"

"No."

Yumi frowned. "You really picked a hard one. Umm…does it make a noise?"

"No."

Jeremie shook his head, much to Ulrich's amusement. "Is one of its other colors red?"

Ulrich squinted, then nodded. "Yes."

Aelita contemplated that. "Does it pertain to Lyoko?"

"Does it what?" Ulrich blinked.

"Does it have to do with Lyoko?" Aelita translated.

"Nope." Ulrich was enjoying this. He had really stumped them!

Yumi frowned. "Do you wear it?"

"Nope."

"Is its only colors white and red?" Jeremie asked.

"Nope."

Aelita scratched her head. "Is it green?"

"Nope!" Ulrich was grinning at how exasperated they were getting.

"Is it something we see every day?" Yumi asked.

Ulrich thought a moment before he answered, "Yes."

"Finally…another 'yes'…" Jeremie laughed, then took his turn. "Is it a food?"

"Nope."

Aelita giggled at the look on Jeremie's face, then asked, "Is it something we see at school?"

"Yes."

"A white and red food…interesting images that one was, Jeremie." Yumi laughed, then thought of a question while Aelita giggled and Ulrich grinned (and Jeremie blushed). She tapped a finger to her chin. "Is it something only boarders see?"

"Nope."

"Is its other color yellow?" Jeremie asked.

"Nope."

Jeremie scratched his head.

Aelita smiled and took her turn, "Is it in a classroom?"

Ulrich thought of that one. "Sometimes."

"Is it a common object?" Yumi asked.

"Yes."

Jeremie thought a moment. "Is its other color blue?"

"Yes."

Aelita blinked. "Is it thin?"

"Yes."

Yumi snapped her fingers. "A flag!"

Ulrich sulked…just a couple more questions and he could have won. "Yea…that's right…"

Aelita giggled and Jeremie grinned.

"Okay…my turn." Yumi grinned a them.

"Uh-oh…"

* * *

They played the game until each of them had a turn, and then some, which totaled over six games of it. By then, it was getting colder; they were huddled together for warmth, and could see their breaths.

Thankfully, they could hear an occasional sound on the other side, meaning that the rescue team was probably digging them out.

Aelita's flashlight flickered, and went out, which made her jump a bit and grab onto a shivering Jeremie.

Yumi had pulled Ulrich to her as much as she could since he had begun shivering a while ago, his face pale. They both blushed, but stayed in that position. She shifted through her bag and pulled out her flashlight with one hand since the other was around Ulrich. She was just as cold, but Jeremie and Ulrich seemed to be doing worse.

"Ulrich, look at me," Yumi stated.

Ulrich did as he was told, then flinched when the light came at him. "OW! Yumi!"

Yumi smiled a bit. "Open your eyes…I need to check."

Ulrich winced, but did as he was told.

Yumi nodded and then set up her flashlight for a light source. "Good. You're doing better. I think you're out of the danger zone with that concussion."

Ulrich smiled and rested his head on her shoulder. He was cold, and still felt a bit ill, but it wasn't as bad as before.

Yumi shivered and moved in closer.

* * *

The four were huddled together, shivering, able to see their breaths now in the cold.

Aelita was concerned. She was afraid, but that wasn't what worried her. What troubled her was how pale Jeremie was; his pallor was matching Ulrich's, and he didn't have an open wound. "Jeremie?"

Jeremie groaned, his head on her shoulder as he shivered. His leg was throbbing again, and his head was beginning to hurt. _A fever, maybe…?_

"How long have we been in here?" Ulrich asked quietly.

"A-an hour, I think." Yumi shivered. "Two, probably…"

Ulrich pulled her to him, and held her. "They're working on getting us out. I can hear them. We'll be okay."

Yumi sniffled. She was scared. She had been scared since she woke up in the darkness, but had to put on a brave face.

Ulrich hugged her. "It's okay, Yumi." He closed his eyes and shivered, then took her hand in his shaking one. "Um…Yumi?"

"Hmm?" Yumi blinked when he took her hand. Both of them were cold, but Ulrich's hands were freezing. Still, there was a warmth in his hands that she enjoyed.

"If…if they don't make it. I…" Ulrich stammered, feeling his eyelids droop. It was just too cold…

"Don't talk like that," Yumi whispered, tightening her embrace on him with a shiver.

Ulrich shook his head. _It's getting darker…is this death? If it is, then…I don't have to worry about what will happen afterwards…_with that thought, he weakly gripped Yumi's hand, then sat up and kissed her on the lips with the last of his strength.

Yumi was surprised, but returned the kiss.

Ulrich pulled back and smiled, his eyes glistening with tears as he whispered a verbal confirmation of his feelings before falling unconscious.

"U-Ulrich?" Yumi shivered, then shook him a bit. "Ulrich? This isn't funny…Ulrich!"

He didn't stir.

Yumi felt tears run down her cheeks, but then blew out a breath of relief when she could feel his heart beating as she hugged him tightly, and could hear his shallow breathing. She wrapped herself around him as best as she could to keep him warm.

Jeremie watched, half asleep, along with Aelita, who was growing more and more frightened; especially when Ulrich passed out.

The noises on the other side were getting louder, and the banging was increasing in volume.

Tears welled up in Aelita's eyes, and she wrapped her arms around Jeremie.

Jeremie was half caught between on the verge of passing out and shock from her actions. He didn't have time to question it, when he felt Aelita's warm lips pressed against his.

He wish it could have lasted longer, but Aelita drew apart, blushing slightly and smiling shakily at him.

Jeremie smiled in return, blushing, and closed his eyes. If he was going to freeze to death, at least it would be in Aelita's arms.

Before anyone could say another word or do anything else, light shone in as the rescue team finally broke through the wall of rubble.

"You kids alive in here?" one man stepped forward, shining a flashlight at them.

"For the now." Aelita nodded. "But…"

The man surveyed them, then turned to the entrance and started to bark orders, "I need a medical team in here, stat! We've got one unconscious, and another injured. Two gurneys. Get the blankets, too!"

There was rustling, and four men came in, with two others trailing them.

Two of the men got Ulrich onto one of the gurneys, and the other two got Jeremie onto the other (with a cry of pain from Jeremie as his leg was jostled). Blankets immediately went over them to keep them warm.

Another man went to Ulrich's side, while the sixth came over and helped Aelita and Yumi up, wrapping a blanket around each of them.

"…and blood loss," one of the men leaning over Ulrich was saying, "We need to get him to the hospital…emergency transfer, even! Get the ambulance fitted and ready! We can start to do it on the way. Do we know the boy's blood type?"

Yumi gulped as William went over to her.

Odd had gone over to Aelita and wrapped a comforting arm around her as he watched in concern.

"He's type A," Odd told the paramedics as they hurried along after them.

"Are you certain?" one of the men asked.

"Get a confirmation!" another was shouting.

"We have the principal on the line…they're looking up his medical files…"

"Confirmed! Type A!"

By now, they had emerged outside.

There were four ambulances, and about six patrol cars. The officers were keeping the other kids from crossing over the lines as the groups emerged from the mine.

The only reason why Odd and William had been allowed through was because they knew exactly where the cave-in was.

"I'll donate!" Odd volunteered. "I'm type O blood type!"

"You look too light…how much do you weigh?" one of the men asked.

"Thirty-two kilograms, sir!"

"Too light…a transfer could very well kill you." the man shook his head.

Yumi stepped forward. "Excuse me, sir? I'm fifty kilograms. That passes the limit. I'm type A. Let me donate, please!"

The man hesitated, turning to one of the other men. "Get a confirmation." He then nodded to the girl. "Alright. Get in. I'd rather have you in here when the confirmation comes through."

Yumi climbed into the ambulance after they loaded Ulrich in, and two of the men started to connect the machinery as another got into the driver's seat.

"Can you let Aelita be with Jeremie?" Odd asked, indicating to the other boy who was being loaded into the other ambulance.

"I don't see why not…besides minor injuries, we can't fix the bone until we reach the hospital," the paramedic responded.

"Go ahead, princess." Odd winked and smiled reassuringly at Aelita.

Aelita looked back at him.

"Both of you, let's go." the paramedic sighed. "There's enough room for you both."

Aelita looked relieved, and climbed in with Odd following.

The ambulance that had Ulrich (and Yumi) was already tearing away towards the hospital

* * *

Yumi lay on one bed, with Ulrich on the bed next to hers, a machine between them that was transferring the much needed blood to the boy.

After the small transfer in the ambulance, they had enough to work on his injuries, though Yumi still had to transfer some. Both he and Yumi had been treated, and now he was getting the rest of the blood he required.

The two were in hospital gowns, with blankets over them. Yumi had a couple bandages here and there, especially on her hands. Ulrich had a bandage around his head, and another one on his shoulder. There were a couple others here and there as well.

There was a knock on the open door, and the doctor monitoring them looked up as Yumi gazed over.

Odd stood there with a small smile. He had been cleaned up as well…he had scraped his hands a bit when he first tried to move the rocks.

The doctor nodded to him, and monitored Ulrich's stats. "Just a little more."

Yumi nodded. "I'm feeling okay."

Odd beamed and pulled a chair over. "Well, that answers the question I was gonna ask, then."

Yumi smiled. They could always count on Odd to cheer them up in any situation.

"Aelita's with Jeremie," Odd informed her, "She had a scrape on her knee that they patched up, and a few others. Like you, not many injuries. Jeremie came out of surgery for his leg, and he's resting now. It's like a love fest in there…they don't need me to cheer them up or anything…eesh."

Yumi laughed, then glanced at Ulrich.

"Lemme guess…you two, as well." Odd grinned impishly.

Yumi blushed.

The doctor switched off the transfer machine and bandaged the spot on Ulrich's arm after removing the tube, then did the same to Yumi. "Stay in bed. If there's a bad change in his status," he indicated to Ulrich and the machines monitoring the boy, "let me know immediately. One of you can hit the emergency call button."

Odd and Yumi nodded.

The doctor left to give the results to the front.

"Ah, bound to happen, eventually." Odd shrugged, arms crossed. "So, what _did_ happen in there? Jeremie looks like he's on Cloud Nine."

Yumi smiled, then blushed and looked at Ulrich, remembering the kiss and the three words he had whispered. "Something…very special happened."

Odd blinked, then sighed and shook his head. "I suppose I'm not gonna get a straight answer, huh…?"

"I don't know if he'll even remember it," Yumi said quietly, "He was half conscious at the time."

"If I know Ulrich, he'll remember." Odd nodded sagely.

Yumi smiled weakly. "Thanks, Odd."

"Hey…that's what pals are for! I…um…wanted to apologize, though. If I hadn't played with the elevator back there…"

"I'm actually glad you did," Yumi admitted. "I realized something very important down in that wing."

"Aelita said almost the same thing," Odd mumbled, "It's like a conspiracy or something!"

Yumi laughed.

The doctor came back in, and Odd had to leave.

"I'll be back when I'm allowed to. You and Ulrich better get better, soon!" Odd called as he walked out the door with a grin.

He put his hands behind his back and whistled as soon as he was out the door. _So…Jeremie and Aelita are an official couple. _He grinned as he continued walking to the waiting area.

Odd plopped down on one of the seats. _Ulrich is out of the danger zone…they said he'd recover completely. And, no worries for Jeremie, either. Aelita and Yumi are just about as healthy as can be…_

He grinned and stared at the ceiling, then laughed to himself. _Yumi and Ulrich finally got together, huh? About damn time!_

**THE END**


End file.
